Frank Pepe Pizza Napoletana, aka Pepe’s, in New Haven, Connecticut, is one of the country’s oldest and most famous pizzerias and serves nothing else (well, there is a tossed salad, but it doesn’t make the menu). Larry Olmsted for USA TODAY

The scene: Pizza is arguably America’s favorite food, and if a town or city has any restaurants at all, there is a good chance one of them is a pizzeria. But exactly what kind of pizza they serve depends quite a bit on where in the country you are – the United States has more different regional styles of pizza than Italy, the birthplace of the cuisine. Thick and thin; round and rectangular; cooked with coal, gas, wood or electricity; there are a lot of different ways to enjoy a food that is as simple as cooked dough topped with tomato sauce (usually) and cheese (not always) and any of a kazillion other things, from the national favorite, pepperoni, to fresh clams to pineapples.

Over the years, Great American Bites has visited a lot of different kinds of pizzerias in a lot of different places. There are more than five distinct styles in this vast nation, but these are five great ones that you need to try to call yourself a pizza lover, with a standout recommendation for where to thoroughly enjoy each.

The food: There is no “best” style, and eaters are most often polarized between the various crusts. But at the end of day there’s very little truly bad pizza (if you avoid the cheap delivery chains like Dominos, Little Caesars, Pizza Hut, etc.). Even when trying a style different from your favorite, you can have a really good time, so when you visit one of these pizza capitals, make sure you grab a slice or two.

New York style

America’s very first pizzeria was in the Big Apple, and ever since, this is the city best known for having a distinctive style (well, other than Naples), the kind most fast food pizza all across the nation is copied from, albeit usually very poorly. Even in the City That Never Sleeps, traditional neighborhood New York-style pizza has been fast disappearing in recent decades, squeezed out between the cheap national chains and the emergence of the gourmet wood-fired craze. True classic New York pizza is always cooked with gas, usually at temperatures quite a bit lower than that used in wood- or coal-burning ovens. As result, New York-style pizza is unique because it has a thin crust, but it’s not crispy, it's chewy, sturdy enough to support the slice held in one hand, yet still flexible enough to fold without shattering – old-time New Yorkers fold their slices and eat them like a sandwich, with crust on the outside of every bite. It has a pronounced outer crust that is raised and airy, very three-dimensional in comparison to the rest of the otherwise thin slice.

The best place to try truly great New York pizza is Di Fara in Brooklyn, which I hardly discovered – pretty much every paper, major food critic and the Zagat Survey has rated it the city’s best. You have to travel out of the way and wait a long time because it is a food pilgrimage and very popular, but it’s worth the hassle because it is awesome, and anyone who thinks Di Fara is overrated is wrong. While they make the city’s classic style, they do it with much better ingredients than the typical neighborhood spot, like a three-cheese blend of fresh buffalo mozzarella, fior di latte and Parmigiano-Reggiano, with flour and olive oil from Italy and basil the owner grows himself. However, I ate at the satellite in Las Vegas and it was terrible, nothing like the original.

There is a second minor style that is also uniquely New York: Sicilian (you won’t find it in Sicily), a rectangular sheet pie with much thicker, bread-like crust and corners. Di Fara also makes the city’s best Sicilian. Di Fara calls them “square pies,” and the dough is airier then most Sicilian, not as oppressively thick and heavy. A great example of the less rarefied neighborhood pizzeria once common all throughout the city is Pizza Sam’s in Jackson Heights, Queens, my childhood regular and the last of about a dozen pizzerias in my old neighborhood still standing.

In addition to a full Italian menu, Gino's offers 30 specialty pizzas and about a dozen topping options for custom pies. Small and large pies, Sicilian slices and grandma pies are available. courtesy of Gino's

This is the other pizza famously named for a city, and one that is often the butt of jokes by East Coasters. However, I am from New York City and I love Chicago deep dish. You just have to accept that it’s different. If traditional thin-crust styles are spaghetti or fettucine, then deep dish is lasagna, a casserole take on the genre. You never get it by the slice, it takes forever to cook, and because it is in the oven so long, the tomato sauce always goes on top of the cheese, no matter what topping you choose, because it keeps the cheese from burning. It’s cooked in a cast iron pan about 2 inches deep, lined with dough to form vertical outside edges, and then filled with tomato sauce, cheese and whatever toppings are desired. It is removed from the pan with a special spatula and eaten with fork and knife. By tradition, Chicago is a meat-centric former stockyard city, and all forms of meat rule here, but especially sausage. Unlike pizzerias elsewhere, link-style sausage is uncommon, and the ground patty form is much more prevalent, often as a single-disc layer the diameter of the pizza.

There are several popular multiple-restaurant groups around Illinois, but my favorite is Lou Malnati’s, and all my Chicago friends tell me I made the right choice. The bestsellers are the Chicago Classic, with sausage and cheese, and the Lou, a four-cheese blend of mozzarella, cheddar, parmigiana, and Romano with spinach and mushrooms. Pizzas here come in four sizes, from individual to the large serving four, but it’s the crust that sets Lou Malnati’s above its peers, rich and decadent yet light, flaky and very buttery, more like pie crust than traditional pizza dough.

“What is deep-dish pizza?” asked owner Marc Malnati rhetorically. “First I tell people what it isn’t. People come in thinking it’s this big pile of ingredients, heavy and hard to eat. But it’s not. We’re going for a thin crust, but it has to be thick enough to hold all the sausage, a pound of cheese and all the tomato. It’s a container that we make as light as possible. It’s all about the crust: a flaky, buttery crust is the foundation we build on. The crust has got to be perfect. Then it is about the right ingredients – we’re meticulous about managing every ingredient.”

Home Run Inn touts natural ingredients and house-made sauce and sausage on its family-recipe pizzas. Diners can build their own pies with a variety of topping and size options. courtesy of Home Run Inn

Orsi's pizza comes with a sidecar of jardiniere, which is the typical condiment that comes on an Italian beef sandwich. The pizza is borderline well done and has sauce and cheese all the way to the crispy edge. Steve Dolinsky

Coal-oven pizza is most famously associated with New Haven, Connecticut, a pizza lovers’ paradise, but Totonno’s in New York predates this, and there are several other famous coal-fired pizzerias around the country. What they have in common is a thin crust that cooks quickly like wood-fired Neapolitan, but with a bit more char, adding smoky flavor. New Haven is the best place to try the style as the city is home to four famous places in a concise area: Frank Pepe Pizza Napoletana, or simply Pepe’s, Sally’s Apizza, Modern Pizza and the Spot, a very old and established Pepe’s spin-off.

Many prominent national critics and pizza experts believe Pepe’s is the best pizzeria in the city and possibly the entire country, and everyone I have taken there has been suitably blown away. The pizza is amazing, and while there is a locally divided Sally’s vs. Pepe’s rivalry (everyone seems to agree they love Modern), Pepe’s is so much better that I cannot understand why there is even debate. Pepe’s pizza is spectacular – pies are large and sort of oblong rather than round, with as thin a crust as you will find, crisp and blackened on bottom from the coal oven. The traditional is a tomato-based pizza with only grated cheese, no mozzarella (though it’s an option), and while the crust is crisp to start with, this version is so saucy it droops in the middle and cannot easily be eaten one-handed like New York slices. But the trademark, since the 1930s, is the famed white clam pizza, a style invented right there, and served only when fresh New England clams are available. Other standard toppings like pepperoni are available, but the clam is crazy good, while if you want to compare to more traditional pizzas, the tomato pie, with or without mozzarella, is amazing.

In recent years Pepe’s has expanded greatly with 10 locations throughout the Northeast, from as close to New York City as Yonkers to Boston, Providence and even in the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut. I took home a pie from the one in West Hartford, and it was impressive. However, as chains go, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, out of Florida but now in eight states and throughout the Northeast and Illinois, is amazing. In 2016, Great American Bites called it “America’s Best Pizza Chain.” I still stand by that.

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Pepe's is ground zero for apizza. The iconic pizzeria has famously churned out coal-fired brick oven pies since 1925, and has won many Best Pizza in America accolades from outlets such as The Daily Meal. Tom McGovern Photography

The original tomato pie, which is just sauce and grated cheese, is what was first served when Pepe’s opened. Back then, you could get it with anchovies or without. Nowadays, you can top it with mozzarella, sausage and oven roasted red peppers (pictured). Tom McGovern Photography

Smoothies have been popular since the restaurant opened in 1975. You can’t go wrong with the bestselling Kale A Bunga, a combination of organic kale, pineapple juice, blueberries and banana. Claire Criscuolo

Claire’s sells more than 100 cups of soup a day (yes, even in the summer), accompanied by a homemade mini loaf. Customers actually line up and wait for the bread to come out of the oven at 10:30 a.m. each day. Claire Criscuolo

The menu is full of East Coast classics, including the award-winning New England clam chowder, a combination of whole fresh clams, bacon, thyme, golden potato and light cream. courtesy of Shell & Bones Oyster Bar and Grill

Enjoy a glass of Connecticut’s finest Jonathan Edwards Pinot Gris and an order of corn-crusted, flash-fried calamari with spicy Asian sauce, while watching the sunset over the marina. courtesy of Shell & Bones Oyster Bar and Grill

The soy cured grilled yellowfin, served with vegetable spring rolls, fried spinach and a duo of wasabi and chili-garlic sauces, has been a menu staple since the restaurant opened in 1999. Elizabeth Grant

Olea offers authentic Spanish cuisine in a modern, elegant setting. What you won’t find on the menu is paella. While many consider it Spain’s national dish, chef Manuel Romero prefers to delight diners with inspired dishes that reflect his heritage and home. Jim Mino

Sustainable seafood takes center stage at Atelier Florian. Oysters are delivered daily, with a selection of East and West Coast varieties. Local Bluepoint oysters are available for just $1 during happy hour, which takes place everyday from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Carissa Duhmel

For appetizers, diners rave about the crispy brussels sprouts, which are finished with maple sugar and grated Pecorino-Romano cheese as well as the charred octopus, accompanied by ruby red grapefruit, fennel and herb salad, and citrus vinaigrette (pictured). Alexandria Pena

One of Atelier Florian’s signature dishes is Bouillabaisse -- it’s not your standard fish soup. This bowl of oceanic goodness is brimming with two halves of a whole lobster (tail and claw meat), mussels, bay shrimp, clams and monkfish. The rouille crostini is perfect for sopping up every last drop of tomato saffron broth. Carissa Duhmel

At Union League Cafe, chef Jean Pierre, a member of the Association des Maîtres-Cuisiniers de France, serves up award-winning French fare, like quail bourguignon with LePuy lentils and bacon lardons. Patrick O'Brien

This is all the rage right now, and while until very recently it was almost completely unknown outside the Motor City, Detroit pizza is having its moment in hipster hotpots like Brooklyn, Nashville and San Francisco. This recognition has been long overdue, and while I said earlier that there is no perfect style of pizza, this is as close as it comes, bringing together all the pizza fans divided by various other crust styles. It’s thick and rectangular like New York Sicilian, but not that thick, much less bready, so the toppings are not overwhelmed. The exterior of the dough is crispy, giving it a nice mouth snap like coal oven. It just ticks off all the right boxes to please the palate, and everyone I’ve seen try it for the first time has been wowed. It also seems to be a style that anyone who bothers to tackle does well, and I’ve yet to find a bad example of Detroit pizza. Specialists we have visited include Brown Dog Pizza in Telluride, Colorado; Emmy Squared in New York and Nashville; Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco, and his Pizza Rock spin-offs in Las Vegas and Sacramento, and all have knocked it out of the ballpark.

But the place to really experience it is the place where it was invented, Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit. Rectangular pies are available as either four- or eight-slice pizzas, and the four is always better because you get all double-crusted corner pieces. The pizza has a tenuous connection to the city’s auto industry, as it is traditionally cooked in pans of blue steel, and legend has it that at one time cooks used industrial metal trays meant to hold small parts in factories. The pizza is delicious, and Buddy’s thing is combos based on Detroit names, like the Henry Ford (red onion, ground beef, bacon, bleu cheese), the Detroit Zoo (roasted tomatoes, pine nuts, basil) or the bestselling Detroiter, which features pepperoni, cheese, tomato basil sauce and Buddy’s signature spice blend.

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One of the oldest farmers markets in the country, Eastern Market is a popular destination for many Detroiters and visitors. Aside from the market itself, open only on Saturdays, many of the surrounding shops and restaurants are open all week. Devorah Lev-Tov

Filled with wholesalers selling produce, Eastern Market is the place to be on Saturdays. Detroit Wholesale Produce, open to the public, offers items like tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and these giant watermelons in summer. Devorah Lev-Tov

American Coney Island originally opened in 1917, with Lafayette opening up next door soon after. So-called Coney Islands are found throughout the city, providing quick, cheap eats like hot dogs and chili fries. It’s unclear where the name stems from, but many think immigrants arriving in New York City who went through Coney Island started the trend. While Lafayette’s décor is more old school greasy spoon, American offers a more fast food chain-esque interior. Devorah Lev-Tov

Detroit has several craft breweries but Batch Brewing Company in Corktown is a small-producer favorite. And it has a great space for enjoying its delicious beers and snacks. Customers enjoy the board game selection almost as much as the beers. Devorah Lev-Tov

The original and best according to many, Buddy’s Pizza invented Detroit-style square pizza in 1946. What is Detroit-style pizza? Square with a thick, oily crust and sauce on top of cheese. Trust us, it’s delicious. Jerry Zolynsky, courtesy of Buddy’s Pizza

Detroit City Distillery in Eastern Market makes small-batch whiskey, vodka and gin using Michigan grains and local ingredients. You can taste (and buy) it at the factory, straight or in one of their delicious housemade cocktails. Devorah Lev-Tov

Why just have a taste when you can have a whole cocktail featuring Detroit City Distillery’s small-batch spirits? Functioning as a popular bar, the distillery’s bartenders will mix up creations like Another Bender, featuring the rye whiskey, dried cherry, cynar, bitters and lime, or Breaking Even, which highlights the Gilded Age Vodka mixed with grapefruit, apple shrub and lemon. Kenny Karpov

Elias Donuts, open for more than 30 years, serves coffee and doughnuts to the Rosedale community, and anyone else who wants paczki — the Polish jelly-filled treat usually eaten on Paczki Day (aka Fat Tuesday) — year-round, 24 hours a day. Devorah Lev-Tov

Pop — not soda — is very important to Motowners. So much so that several pop brands were created in Detroit and can only be found in the region. Vernors ginger ale, created by pharmacist James Vernor in 1866, is one of them and it’s celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, making it the oldest surviving ginger ale brand in the USA. Devorah Lev-Tov

Germack, in Eastern Market, is a coffee and nut roaster, with two shops side by side: one for coffee, spices and other treats, and the other just for nuts. On the coffee side they sell both raw and roasted coffee beans by the pound, dozens of spices, local small-batch items like jams and hot sauces, baked goods from several Detroit favorites like Avalon Breads and Sisters Pie, and freshly brewed coffee drinks. Devorah Lev-Tov

Famous for their pistachios, Germack carries several varieties. One of the founding brothers, Frank Germack, Sr., invented red pistachios when he began dying the nuts bright red to cover up imperfections and stains on the husk. Germack now sells natural and red-dyed pistachios along with other nuts like cashews and Brazil nuts, all of which are roasted on site. Devorah Lev-Tov

Greektown is a downtown neighborhood that has shrunk over the years but is still home to a few classic Greek eateries, including the Golden Fleece, which offers up gyros, sagnaki, moussaka and other specialties. Devorah Lev-Tov

Green Dot Stables has a theme and you can probably guess what it is. But while it could be too campy or cheesy, here it’s done just right. It’s a prime spot for grabbing a drink and some sliders and is a popular late-night option. Devorah Lev-Tov

Known for its mini burgers, or sliders, Green Dot Stables also has sliders of other varieties, basically putting a whole bunch of combinations onto a mini bun for a nominal price (think $2-3). A sweet favorite is the fluffernutter (peanut butter and marshmallow fluff), which is grilled to perfection. Devorah Lev-Tov

Ever heard of compressed watermelon? Newcomer Mabel Gray manages to make watermelon even sweeter by well, compressing it, changing the texture, concentrating the flavor, and serving it in a divine salad. Devorah Lev-Tov

Mabel Gray opened in the Hazel Park neighborhood in 2016 and was declared the No. 2 best new restaurant in Detroit by the Detroit Free Press and named a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant. Devorah Lev-Tov

Vegetables are treated with loving care by chef Rigato, a 'Top Chef' Season 12 contestant and acclaimed chef of Root restaurant in White Lake, Mich. before opening Mabel Gray, where these perfectly cooked carrots are served with crème fraiche, pistachios and dill. Devorah Lev-Tov

Started in Detroit and Brooklyn by two brothers, this pickle company has become popular across the country. Try it from the source at Eastern Market on Saturdays and definitely give the bloody mary mixer a go. Devorah Lev-Tov

Eastern Market’s Mootown Creamery is an old-fashioned ice cream shop with dozens of flavors at any given time. The Superman flavor — named for its red, yellow and blue colors — is a true Motor City experience that you’ll find at most ice cream shops in the D. The three swirled flavors vary by shop, but it’s definitely not just vanilla with food coloring. At Mootown, it’s banana, cherry and “blue moon,” a Midwest flavor tasting vaguely of marshmallow and Fruity Pebbles. Devorah Lev-Tov

Detroiters have a thing for corned beef and one of the best makers of it, Sy Ginsberg and United Deli, is based in Detroit. Mudgie’s Deli, one of the best deli restaurants in the city, has Sy Ginsberg corned beef, which they roast in house, on several of its sandwiches including the Barrett, which tops it with cole slaw, Swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing. The list of sandwich options at Mudgie’s is endless but you really can’t go wrong. Devorah Lev-Tov

Mudgie’s Deli, which opened in the old Eph McNally’s Delicatessen space by former employee Greg Mudge in 2008, is divided into several rooms, plus a large outdoor patio. The wood-inlay bar in the center room is always a friendly spot. Devorah Lev-Tov

The enclave of Hamtramck has a large Polish population and is famous for its Polish food. The Polish Village Café, on a quiet side street off the main drag, is known for having the best pierogis in town. Devorah Lev-Tov

When star Midwest chef Michael Symon opened Roast inside The Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit back in 2008, it helped kickstart the city’s fine dining revolution. Roast specializes in all things meat and is known for its decadent bone marrow dish. Michael Symon Restaurants

Part of the newer wave of restaurants in the city, Rose’s Fine Food opened in 2014 in a space that has been a diner on and off for years. But this isn’t typical greasy spoon fare — cousins Lucy Carnaghi and Molly Mitchell serve dishes like the Upstream Sandwich, an open-faced sandwich with locally raised, pan-seared trout, aioli, cornichons, and the Dude Abides, an heirloom rice bowl with seasonal vegetables. Devorah Lev-Tov

Rose’s Fine Food has helped revitalize this east side area and offers neighborhood residents a 10% discount. It also makes a point of paying its workers a living wage, making tips not necessary. Open only for breakfast and lunch, be prepared to wait for a table. Devorah Lev-Tov

The C.L.T., available for lunch at Selden Standard, is a chicken skin sandwich with greens and tomatoes, many of which are grown by a server who has a small farm outside Ann Arbor, Mich., and topped with bread and butter pickles and aioli. Selden Standard

Dearborn, Mich., part of metro Detroit, is home to the largest Arab population in the USA, which translates into some amazing Middle Eastern food. Sheeba serves Yemenite food including foul (pronounced “fool”), which is made from stewed mashed fava beans, onions and tomatoes. Devorah Lev-Tov

Slows Bar BQ opened on a then-desolate stretch in Corktown back in 2005 and is credited with jumpstarting the neighborhood. Now they have three locations, a food truck and a concession stand at Ford Field. While the barbecue is great (St. Louis spareribs, anyone?), the macaroni and cheese is a can’t-miss dish. EE Berger

While Detroit has its own style of pizza — and it’s square — it now also represents in the New York-style pizza arena thanks to Supino Pizzeria in Eastern Market, which offers pies and slices with a variety of fresh toppings. The daily slice special, which changes, well, daily, is always a good option. Devorah Lev-Tov

Stroh’s beer was first brewed in Detroit in 1850, but it hasn’t been made in the city since 1985. Owned by Pabst Brewing Co. since 1999, the company announced this summer that Stroh’s Bohemian-style pilsner would once again be brewed in the Motor City, at Brew Detroit, a facility in Corktown. The Detroit-brewed beer went on sale in August. Devorah Lev-Tov

Coke or Pepsi? How about Faygo. Any Detroiter can tell you that Faygo soda pop is a Motor City must have. With a variety of flavors, many of which are unique to Faygo, like Rock & Rye and Red Pop, this brand is a Detroit superstar and can be found in any grocery or convenience store in Michigan, but not very much at all outside the Midwest. TMV Group

This style is based on the world’s very first pizza, the progenitor of the entire field, from Naples, Italy. To make sure people get the real thing, nearly 35 years ago a group of renowned pizzaiolos in Naples created a set of quality rules for making their namesake pizza, much as wine regions like Champagne have done. They certify pizzerias around the world, which become members of the Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, or association of true Neapolitan pizza, commonly abbreviated as VPN. If you go to one of these VPN places, you will get predictably excellent pizza made using only permitted types of Italian flour, other very specific ingredients, and a particular kind of high-temperature wood-burning oven. There are well over 100 VPN-certified pizzerias in this country, and Great American Bites particularly enjoyed Il Canal in Washington, D.C. But the finest example of the style is not a VPN spot; it is the legendary Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, which has been named the best pizza in America by more critics than any other. The over-the-top pizza-obsessed chef-owner Chris Bianco hires artisan farmers to grow arugula, basil and other key ingredients for him. Everything is as perfect and fresh as possible, though in recent years, Bianco, who used to literally make every pizza served himself, has stepped back a bit from tossing pies. But the oven, farmers, ingredients, and from-scratch sausage are all still there, and this is life-changing pizza.

Special note: Great American Bites has gone on record as saying that Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco is the best pizzeria in the country, if not the world, and it is. While there is no one best pizza, there can be a best pizzeria, and Tony’s special touch is making all the top styles under one roof, with seven different ovens using every fuel to turn out the best and most authentic versions of nine distinctly different regional styles of pizza. On top of that, owner Tony Gemingnani was the first American ever to win the title of World Champion Pizza Maker in Naples. He offers a pizza-tasting trip around the world on menu and all are excellent – his New Haven coal style is as good as in New Haven, his Detroit as good as Detroit. Tony offers all the styles in this story save for Chicago deep dish – which he does an excellent version of at his other pizzeria, Capo, down the street.

Larry Olmsted has been writing about food and travel for more than 15 years. An avid eater and cook, he has attended cooking classes in Italy, judged a barbecue contest and once dined with Julia Child. Follow him on Twitter, @TravelFoodGuy, and if there's a unique American eatery you think he should visit, send him an email at travel@usatoday.com. Some of the venues reviewed by this column provided complimentary services.